Ghana: No water and firemen 'too old"

From the Ghanian Journal - Link

Fifteen families were last Friday rendered homeless after fire gutted the rooms they were occupying on the upper floor of a two-storey building near the main lorry station at Assin –Fosu.

All their belongings were burnt to ashes, while the roof of the building was destroyed.

Briefing the GNA on the incident at Assin-Fosu on Monday, Mr Alfred Otoo, one of the victims, said there was nobody at home when the incident happened at around 1520 hrs.

He explained that there was power outage in the town that day and that the fire reportedly started immediately after power had been restored and it was therefore suspected that some of the occupants on the floor must have left their electrical gadgets on.

He said personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in Fosu tried in vain to put out the fire and had to call for assistance from their counterparts in Cape Coast but the entire floor had completely been burnt by the time the team arrived.

Other people living within the vicinity the GNA spoke to, expressed anger that the local personnel of the Fire Service had been unable to put out the fire, because they were “too old”.

When contacted, the Assistant Divisional Officer of the GNFS at Fosu, Mr Tony Abraham, explained that a crew of firemen was dispatched immediately a distress call about the fire was received, but the water in the fire tender was not enough to put out the fire.

He also explained that the township had no fire hydrant so water has to be fetched into the fire tender from a stream in the next village, a distance of about 13 kilometres and that investigations are underway to establish the exact cause of the fire.

ASP Seth Doe, the Assin Fosu divisional crime officer said his office is yet to receive a report from Fire Service for it to carry out investigations into the incident.

Ghana Forestry Commission Gets very expensive Fire Tenders

Editor: These must be the most advanced water tenders in the world at this price! figure you can get a real nice brand new water tender for wildland use for around $100,000 here in California so maybe 1.5 millon dollars, for the dozen. Where did the rest of the money go? Can Anyone send in a photo of these beauties?

Forestry Commission Gets Fire Tenders | Ghana Official Portal:

Forestry Commission Gets Fire Tenders

The Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mrs Esther Obeng-Dapaah, yesterday in Accra, commissioned 12 Fire Tenders and Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment.

The equipment, which were estimated at eight million Euros, were donated to the Forestry Commission by the Netherlands Government to ensure the management of wildfire in the country.

Commissioning the equipment, Mrs Obeng-Dapaah, commended the Government of Netherlands for their continued support to Ghana, saying that the equipment will be put to good use to ensure significant reduction in wildfires, improve livelihood and the global environment.

She observed that, since 2002, Government has put measures in place to manage wildfire in Ghana with support estimated at about twelve million Euros from the Kingdom of Netherlands to curb wildfire in the country.

According to the Minister, the first and only comprehensive National Fire Policy in Ghana, launched in February 2007 with support from the Netherlands government will go a long way to help the country.

The Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Lidi Remmelzwaal, who made the donation on behalf of the Government of Netherlands said the wildfire management project is aimed at rehabilitating forests through wildfire prevention and control.

She said the Wildlife Management Project (WFMP) which was set up in 2002 is part of a sector-wide approach in order to strengthen the forestry sector.

Source: http://www.ghana.gov.gh/ghana/forestry_commission_fire_tenders.jsp

Fire Tenders in Tanzania, Mwanza

TheCitizen Newspaper: One feared dead as lorry catches fire

A lorry carrying diesel goes up in flames at a filling station in Mwanza yesterday. It took firefighters from the Mwanza City Council and Mwanza Airport two hours to put out the blaze

By Patty Magubira, Mwanza

One person is feared to have died when a lorry having 15 drums of diesel caught fire in Mwanza yesterday.

Three others were injured in the incident that occurred at Moil Oil Industries Limited (MOIL) at the junction of Nyerere and Pamba roads.

The father of the victim, Mr Vitlan Sanjit, who operates a photo studio situated along Nyerere Road, said his son fainted as he tried to evacuate his family from the building housing the studio.

Reports from several members of the family later said he had died on his way to hospital. However, reporters could not verify them as hospital sources and the police were not ready to disclose any information.

"Harun was shocked by the billowing smoke from the burning lorry across the road," he said. He explained that his son's heartbeat had stopped well before he reached Aga Khan Hospital for treatment.


Harun's young brother, Asit Vitlan, had moments later fainted and was rushed to Aga Khan Hospital following a shock from reports of his brother's death.

"I have also been informed that one of my neighbours has just passed away and I am about to visit his family to confirm the reports," one of the MOIL directors, Mr Atlaf Mansoor, said shortly after the fire was extinguished.

He said it was too early to comment about the inferno as he was still waiting for a report from the petrol station management.

One of the three injured persons, according to Mr Mansoor, included a petrol station worker, one Sajar, who had inhaled fire-extinguishing chemicals as he tried to extinguish the inferno.

Others injured were Shaaban Saimon, 30, Ulimwengu Rashid, 49, and two others whose names could not be obtained immediately. They were all rushed to Weil Bugando Medical Centre (WBMC) for treatment, he said.


The fire broke out at about 1.45pm when the drums were being filled with the diesel in the ill-fated lorry. It was transporting it to Ngara District, Kagera Region.

Eyewitnesses said the cause of the Scania lorry catching fire was a cigarette that was being smoked by one of the turn-boys inside the lorry.

It belonged to a resident of Shinyanga Municipality, Mr Oshima Luhende,


Half of the petrol station�s roof and one pump were burnt before the inferno was extinguished at around 3.50 p.m. Fire tenders had to leave the area for over ten times to refill them with water.

Mr Mansoor commended the fire brigade, police officers and city residents for working hard to extinguish the inferno.

"I can't find the right way to thank them for the support they have all given us,"he said.